Gunter Demnig
Gunter Demnig (born October 27, 1947 in Berlin ) is a German artist . He became known for the stumbling blocks that he has been laying in memory of victims from the time of National Socialism since 1996 .
education
Demnig grew up in Nauen and Berlin . In 1967 he graduated from high school and began studying art education at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin with Herbert Kaufmann . 1969/70 followed a year of industrial design studies at the same university. From 1971 he continued his art education studies at the Art Academy in Kassel and passed the first state examination there in 1974.
In the same year Demnig began studying art at the University of Kassel with Harry Kramer , who was followed in 1977 by planning, construction management and execution of monument renovations for two years. From 1980 to 1985 Demnig was an artistic and scientific assistant in the art department of the University of Kassel.
Profession and work
In 1985 Demnig opened his own studio in Cologne and worked on several projects, such as the Moltkerei workshop and the Fuhrwerkswaage art space. Since 1994 he has also worked at the IGNIS cultural center.
Since April 2011 Demnig's studio in Frechen has been in the Signalwerk art center , which is located on the site of the former train station of the Cologne-Frechen-Benzelrath railway . About 20 other well-known artists in the region also operate their studios there. In 2017 he moved his studio to Elbenrod in Hesse .
Stumbling blocks
Demnig became known for producing or laying the so-called “ stumbling blocks ”. They are intended to remember people who were deported during the Nazi era and mostly fell victim to the Holocaust . The stones, with small brass plates with the names of the victims on the top, are laid in the pavement or sidewalk in front of their former homes. The project, started in 1996, has been the largest decentralized memorial in the world for years with 75,000 stones in 1265 German municipalities and in 24 European countries .
Laying of the stumbling blocks for Esther and Herschel Grünspan in Hanover
Remembrance Stones
The Remembrance Stones project, based on the Stolpersteine, aims to promote the memory of victims of Franquism . The memorial stones, which are also 10 × 10 × 10 cm in size, have a silver surface made of stainless steel. The first Remembrance Stones were laid on the island of Mallorca in mid-December 2018 .
Awards
- 2004: Max Brauer Prize of the Alfred Toepfer Foundation , Hamburg
- 2004: Herbert Wehner Medal from the ver.di union
- 2005: Obermayer German Jewish History Award in Berlin (presented on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp , appreciation of the commitment of non-Jewish Germans to the preservation and remembrance of Jewish history and life in Germany )
- 2005: Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (awarded in the orangery of Charlottenburg Palace , Berlin)
- 2005: 24th Youth Media Prize Das Rote Tuch (laudation: Walter Momper )
- 2005: Alfred Toepfer Medal
- 2006: " Alternative Cologne Honorary Citizenship " (Demnig is the second Cologne citizen to receive this award after the Catholic priest Franz Meurer from Cologne-Vingst .)
- 2007: Giesberts Lewin Prize of the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation
- 2008: Ambassador for Democracy and Tolerance Award (awarded by Federal Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble and Federal Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries )
- 2009: Erich Mühsam Prize of the Erich Mühsam Society in Lübeck
- 2009: Josef Neuberger Medal of the Düsseldorf Jewish Community
- 2010: Rhineland thaler from the Rhineland Regional Association
- 2011: Otto Hirsch Medal from the City of Stuttgart
- 2012: Order of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg
- 2012: Erich Kästner Prize from the Dresden Press Club
- 2012: Marion Dönhoff sponsorship award for his stumbling blocks
- 2013: Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize
- 2014: Berlin Bear (BZ Culture Prize)
- 2015: Eugen Kogon Prize
- 2019: Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Works (selection)
- 1980: “Scent Brands” Cassel – Paris
- 1981: "Blood trail" Kassel – London
- 1982: "Ariadne-Faden" from the Kassel documenta to the Venice Biennale (entry in the Guinness Book of Records )
- 1984: "Landscape Preserves"
- 1988: "Entry Berlin / W"
- 1990: "May 1940 - 1000 Roma and Sinti" - traces of paint from the former Gypsy camp in Cologne-Bickendorf to Deutz train station along the deportation route of the Cologne Sinti and Roma who were brought from Deutz to concentration camps
- 1993: Development of the idea of stumbling blocks
- 1996: Illegal laying of the first stumbling blocks in Berlin and Cologne
- 1996/1997/1998/1999: “The walls of Jericho”, scenic oratorio with sound sculptures to the music of Werner Raditschnig in Salzburg (Kollegienkirche), Klagenfurt (Künstlerhaus), Český Krumlov (Egon Schiele Center), Cologne ( Domforum des Kölner Domes), Millstatt (International Music Weeks in the Collegiate Church), staged by Herbert Gantschacher and produced by ARBOS - Society for Music and Theater with live recording of the Austrian radio and audio CD (ARBOS 04); Antwerp (Opera Mobile)
- 1997: First legal laying of two stumbling blocks in the municipality of St. Georgen near Salzburg ; in memory of the brothers Matthias and Johann Nobis
- 2000: Legal continuation of the Stolpersteine project
- 2011: Own tomb in the artist necropolis in Kassel
Exhibitions (selection)
- 1981: Kassel Art Academy
- 1982: Alte Oper , Frankfurt am Main
- 1985: Het Apollohuis, Eindhoven
- 1986: Kunsthalle Baden-Baden ; City Museum Cologne
- 1988: New Berlin Art Association ; Municipal Gallery Bremen; Munich City Museum ; State Picture Gallery Moscow; Hermitage Leningrad
- 1989: Stichting Logos, Gent; Studio gallery, Hamburg
- 1990: Kunsthalle Berlin ; Het Hemelrijken, Eindhoven
- 1991: Künstlerhaus Bethanien , Berlin
- 1992: Kassel Art Association
- 1994: EXIT-Art, Cologne; Antoniterkirche , Cologne; Muzejsko Galerijski Centar, Zagreb
- 1995: Academy of the Arts, Berlin
- 1996: ACP Gallery Peter Schuengel, Salzburg; Egon Schiele Center, Český Krumlov; New Society for Fine Arts , Berlin
- 1997: International Sound Festival, Osnabrück; Upper Austrian State Gallery , Linz; International Sound Festival, Lucerne; City Gallery Katowice
- 1998: Musiques en Scène, Lyon; Hessian State Museum Darmstadt
Memberships
- In 2016 Gunter Demnig was accepted into the German Association of Artists .
literature
- Joachim Rönneper (Ed.): In front of my front door. “Stumbling blocks” by Gunter Demnig. A companion book . Arachne Verlag, Gelsenkirchen 2010, ISBN 978-3-932005-40-4 .
- Stumbling upon Nazi crimes. The sculptor Gunter Demnig has received the Federal Cross of Merit . In: analysis & criticism . No. 500 , November 18, 2005, p. 17 ( [1] - Content of the print edition, menu item “History”).
- NS Documentation Center of the City of Cologne (Ed.): Stolpersteine. Gunter Demnig and his project. Emons, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-89705-546-9 .
- Hans Hesse: stumbling blocks. Idea. Artist. History. Effect. Klartext-Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-8375-1547-3 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Gunter Demnig in the catalog of the German National Library
- Gunter Demnig's website for the Stolperstein project
- Ignis: Gunter Demnig - Vita, actions, solo exhibitions and participations. Retrieved September 9, 2010 .
- Köln-Magazin: Stumbling over the past - Gunter Demnig and his art project Stolpersteine. 2010, accessed September 9, 2010 .
- Gunter Demnig reports on his career and the development of the Stolpersteine project
- Susanne Lenz: Gunter Demnig Stolpersteine / A life's work on Berlin streets. In: Berliner Zeitung , May 14, 2014.
- Katja Iken: The man with the hammer / stumbling block inventor Gunter Demnig. In: Spiegel Online , accessed on July 19, 2017.
- WDR 5 Experienced Stories: Gunter Demnig, Sculptor , August 26, 2018, available until August 22, 2028 (duration: 24 min)
Individual evidence
- ↑ BIOGRAPHY. Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
- ^ Gerhard Kaminski: Stolpersteine: Artist Gunter Demnig finds a new home in the Vogelsbergkreis. In: oberhessische-zeitung.de. April 4, 2018, accessed September 17, 2019 .
- ↑ BIOGRAPHY. Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
- ^ Deutsche Welle : Nazi memorial project now has 70,000 "stumbling blocks". In: www.dw.com. October 23, 2018, accessed January 24, 2019 .
- ↑ Stolpersteine.eu. In: stolpersteine.eu. Retrieved October 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Interview with Gunter Demnig: 40,000 stumbling blocks, 40,000 fates ( Memento from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: wdr.de , July 5, 2013.
- ↑ Mallorca newspaper about the relocation. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^ Website of the artist.Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^ Award ceremony 2005. The Red Cloth, accessed on September 9, 2010 .
- ^ Giesberts-Lewin Prize. ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: 50 years of the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation
- ↑ Ambassador for Democracy and Tolerance. Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance , 2008, accessed September 9, 2010 .
- ^ Stuttgart: Gunter Demnig awarded the Otto Hirsch Medal. In: Stuttgart Journal. January 25, 2011, accessed January 25, 2011 .
- ↑ 10 years Marion Dönhoff Prize: Awards go to Karl Schwarzenberg and the Stolpersteine project , on zeit-verlagsgruppe.de, accessed on June 17, 2018
- ^ Lothar Kreyssig Peace Prize
- ↑ "Stumbling block" initiator receives Order of Merit
- ↑ “Stumbling blocks” for warning reminder ( Memento from April 22, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ) Press release from Jehovah's Witnesses from July 17, 1997
- ↑ Ordinary members. German Association of Artists V., accessed on August 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Gunter Demnig was accepted into the artist association. In: stolpersteine.eu. Retrieved August 17, 2018 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Humble, Gunter |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German artist (stumbling blocks) |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 27, 1947 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |